Other Services Available

2017 Award winners

The City received 48 submissions (PDF, 4 MB) from architects, urban designers, planners, landscape architects, owners and University students.

Each submission was evaluated by a volunteer jury consisting of design professionals and local stakeholders.

The number of awards was determined by the jury, and evaluated based on these criteria:

Excellence in overall site design and contribution to the public realm

Appropriateness of built form orientation, scale, design, materiality and contextual integration

Excellence in architectural design in terms of scale, massing, material and functionality

Excellence in landscape architecture

Energy efficiency, sustainability, adaptability or resiliency

Quality of execution

Innovation

View an interactive map showing locations of all the past winners of Hamilton’s Urban Design and Architecture Awards.

The awards were presented at a gala reception held at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre on November 9, 2017 in celebration of World Town Planning Day.

Looking for higher resolution photo or a digital copy of the jury report? Send your request to designawards@hamilton.ca.

Award of Merit for Student Projects: Bioswales for Ottawa Street North

Project description
With over 600 kilometres of combined storm and sanitary sewers in the lower city, stormwater runoff is a significant issue for Hamilton. While the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan has recommended the implementation of green infrastructure, to date there has been little movement to use bioswales or bioretention planters in Hamilton’s rightsof- way. Ottawa Street North was chosen as a demonstration site for stormwater management based on the high percentage of impermeable surfaces and associated runoff levels, metal contaminant levels found in road residue, and local air pollution levels. Parametric modelling was used to develop design scenarios for the streetscape. Runoff quantities were estimated, and the resulting data was compared with similar installations across North America. The design provides a streetscape intervention for Ottawa Street North that is aesthetically pleasing while creating a healthy environment for the street and surrounding neighbourhood.

Jury comments
While Low Impact Development (LID) techniques are widely recognized and employed in best-practice urban design initiatives, this project illustrates the application of the bioswale concept within the right of way of a prominent street in Hamilton. The project invites the municipality to consider alternative ways to deal with stormwater and invest in LID techniques as part of a broader climate change strategy.

Project description
Through the Confederation Beach Park Master Plan efforts, it was identified that one of the first steps towards the revitalization of Confederation Park was to refresh the branding and wayfinding strategy. An early audit of the site identified that there was a lack of continuity and brand consistency throughout the many different signage fixtures and messaging within the park.

The re-branding exercise would improve the overall visitor experience and provide additional methods of communication. As a result of the exercise, a family of signage fixtures was developed to create an overall “sense of place” and improve the quality of the public realm.

Jury comments
The 93-hectare park, owned and operated by the Hamilton Conservation Authority is a significant community recreational asset, with numerous passive and active amenities. The jury awarded the Award of Excellence to the firstphase of the branding and wayfinding
strategy developed for this public space. The signage features attractive, fresh and highly legible graphics while using resilient materials. Its simplistic and elegant design serves as an encouraging recedent for future phases of the implementation.

Award of Excellence for Private Building - Residential: Single Family: K-House

Project description
Physicians interested in healthy living and sustainability commissioned this new net-zero electricity house which combines natural materials, traditional construction methods, and barrier-free design while facilitating aging in place. The landscape strategy includes the integration of resilient native species, porous surfaces and a pollinator rooftop garden seeking to support local wildlife.

Natural, renewable and locally-sourced materials were used in the construction, including straw-bale walls. Little to no mechanical heating or cooling was required due to proper cross-ventilation and highefficiency fireplaces. The house is net-zero thanks to photovoltaic panels on the roof.

Jury comments
The jury chose K-House for the Award of Excellence in this category in recognition of its innovative approach to sustainability at a residential scale. The design of the site represents a sound ecological approach, drawing from the nearby conservation area to create an alternate landscape to the pervasive suburban lawn. The sensitive integration of creative stormwater management approaches (including channels, dams and porous surfaces) with native plantings achieves a complementary beauty with the modernistic aesthetic. The home’s locally unique energy and insulation systems (straw walls, solar panels) achieve a net-zero energy footprint, and that orientation is further reinforced in the home’s urban design, with landscaping that features native species, natural materials and porous surfaces.

Project description
This project involved converting a run-down rooming house into high quality, affordable and supportive housing suites. The first phase included the renovation of the existing rooming house to meet current building and fire codes, and improve its integration with the surrounding community. Retrofits included new roofing, windows, insulation, cladding and new electrical and mechanical systems.

The second phase included a new addition, consisting of an accessible entrance, elevator, lounge, kitchen, laundry facilities, accessibility modifications to four units, staff offices and landscaping. The constrained site required creative design and progressive planning permissions. While the original building awkwardly interacted with its surroundings, this project creatively reuses an existing and tired rooming house to provide dignified homes for those struggling to maintain stable housing. At the same time, it has revitalized a corner of the Homeside neighbourhood and provides a welcoming gateway to the Pipeline Trail.

Jury comments
The jury felt that the adaptive re-use of the Strathearne Suites represents a strong example of how architecture and attention to exterior spaces can transform a building’s role within its urban context, even as that structure retains a socially constructive use. The project did not alter the building’s dimensions or volume, and illustrates how to achieve these improvements without starting from scratch. While
the jury does note that the use of contextually distinctive architecture for social housing can inadvertently serve to stigmatize the residents, the Strathearne Suites succeeded in overcoming this concern by substantially improving the building’s conspicuously neglected envelope and exterior spaces. In so doing, it has also made the public space around the building, including the sidewalk and the small parking lot, friendly. The effort at transformation is commendable.

Award of Merit for Private Building - Residential: Multi-Unit: The Residences of Royal Connaught (Phase 1)

Project description
Having celebrated its Centennial last year, this first phase of redevelopment has given new life to one of Hamilton’s prestigious
downtown icons. In its life, the building has seen several changes in ownership and use; however, the present development team has
embraced its history and revitalized this iconic building into elegant condominium residences.

The building’s original façades have been restored, including the reinstatement of missing or damaged architectural features. The once forgotten lobby is now a beacon outlined by its original canopy and two storey Roman arched windows that frame the restored Corinthian columns, which allow pedestrians a glimpse into the past as they walk by. The animated streetscape will be further complemented by storefront windows, restaurants and cafés that overlook the treasured Gore Park.

Jury comments
The jury recognizes the project’s restoration of the heritage elements of the façade and foyer, while acknowledging that the urban design
success of the entire development will depend on how future planned expansions are integrated into this first phase. This successful first
phase sets a strong precedent for subsequent phases and offers a benchmark for other adaptive reuse projects Downtown. The jury
appreciates the care taken to activate the historic frontage and re-invigorate the link between Gore Park and the International Village.

Award of Merit for Private Building - Commercial: Coop Restaurant

Project description
This project involved the renovation of a historic commercial building into a new restaurant. The majority of the historical façade was preserved with the exterior renovations including the replacement of the ground floor storefront, windows and signage. For contextual compatibility, a cohesive colour palette that included corten steel was used to incorporate the oranges and reds of the original brick. The graffiti-style signage and mural amplify the raw urban aesthetic of the project and build on the restaurant brand’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.

The bright red entry doors provide a welcoming pop of colour and playfulness to the streetscape. The large windows of the storefront
help form a connection between the interior and exterior and give guests an opportunity to stop, refuel and appreciate the local area from a comfortable vantage point. The recent addition of an outdoor patio located along Hess provides a new urban amenity for the area and allows guests to enjoy the neighbourhood in an open air setting, enlivening and activating the street.

Jury comments
The restaurant’s design succeeded in enlivening a corner with heavy vehicular traffic using extensive glazing as well as novel materials and a lively colour palette. It provides an encouraging example of reinvestment in a manner that seeks to frame the public realm with active frontage.

Award of Merit for Private Building - Commercial: 11 King Street

Project description
Formerly the Mills China Shop, the heritage building at 11 King East facing Gore Park underwent a façade rehabilitation project, and now
houses a new commercial venture.

Restoration work included the creation of new wood cornices, restored mill work surrounding windows, masonry was cleaned and repointed, and all missing elements were replicated and replaced for architectural uniformity.

As one of the original buildings fronting onto Gore Park, it was important that this effort complemented the adjacent Gore Park restoration efforts, reviving it as a pedestrian friendly and highlighted gem in the downtown core.

Jury comments
Completed with support from the City of Hamilton’s facade improvement program, this restoration project succeeds in improving the public realm and the pedestrian experience on a downtown commercial street undergoing significant transformation. It offers a vision
of how to bring back the historic facades on King (and elsewhere in the downtown) as a means of attracting new tenants. Additional photos and background information would have provided useful context to support the submission.

Award of Excellence for Private Building - Mixed Use: Templar Flats

Project description
Symptomatic of Hamilton at the time, King William Street consisted of a mix of vacant lots, buildings slated for demolition and struggling
businesses. An empty building, vacant lot and the would-be methadone clinic became what is now the catalytic development known as the Templar Flats. The completed project includes 25 residential units and three exciting independent restaurants along the King William streetscape. The two existing buildings retain their own character above street level, and at patio level are differentiated in detail. The new building has a “modest monumental” presence, clad in limestone and punctuated with large windows of simple proportions. This part of the building raises questions about its vintage, but the dates 1867 and 2016 inscribed on the cornice give it away, so does the modern glass structure that is recessed behind, providing entry to the residential lobby and extending up to the glass rooftop apartments above. The penthouse unit celebrates the rebirth of the street with a full length balcony and projected roof above.

Jury comments
This project, which involved filling in a vacant lot as a means of knitting together three street-wall buildings, represents an outstanding example of urban design, and succeeds in improving the public realm on a downtown street experiencing revitalization. The Flats are properly scaled, well executed and aim to preserve the street’s character and scale. Taken as a whole, the project has significantly reinvigorated not just the two existing buildings and a vacant lot, but an entire block within an active pedestrian district.

Award of Merit for Private Building - Mixed Use: Rudy Hulst Commons

Project description
Rudy Hulst Commons is a mixed-use housing development in East Hamilton, which creates elegant affordable housing through safe and dignified living spaces. This energy efficient building is clad in a pattern of charcoal and white aluminum panels, the windows are offset between floors, creating a dynamic façade. Mustard yellow spandrel panels at the windows accentuate this pattern and the wood-grain Trespa panels at the notch, rooftop patio & soffits soften and add to the façade’s contemporary elegance. A graphite masonry & glass base makes the upper levels appear to hover over the entry level.

This project helped bring new life in an area that had long seen disinvestment. It is an example of appropriate density and progressive transit-ready development along Main Street East. As an anchor on a street corner it has become a local landmark and is appropriately scaled with the surrounding buildings and neighbourhood context. This project is an inspirational example of quality development in Hamilton.

Jury comments
The jury recognizes the merits of this mixed use project for the transparent ground floor treatment and the well proportioned, exuberant cladding, which represents its most noteworthy urban design contribution in a neighbourhood with limited development activity. The building’s mid-rise scale is appropriate to the surrounding area and its location on a transit route.

Award of Merit for Private Building - Mixed Use: 234 King Street East

Project description
This retail commercial project with a residential unit above was a renovation effort by master carpenter Mike Haines. The project was highlighted by the new heritage inspired façade for the commercial space fronting King Street East. The new facade was aimed at elevating the street’s appearance, draw high-end tenants and encourage property owners in the area to do the same. When designing the exterior, it was important that the renovations paid respect to the historic design of the building, and its place in the commercial row it comprises in the International Village. The entire building (commercial and residential) uses high-efficiency LED lighting, high-efficiency furnaces and airconditioners, and insulation beyond building code. The original details of the building were preserved, such as exposed brick walls. Exterior brass lights and pilasters add character to the façade.

Jury comments
This lovely and well-executed small project demonstrates a high level of care and investment, and makes a solid contribution to the public realm, setting a precedent for other small scale commercial re-investment. The care and attention to the incorporation of historically sensitive lighting, signage and architectural detailing is commendable, and a precedent setting renovation project on this vibrant section of King Street.

Award of Excellence for Public Building: David Braley & Nancy Gordon Rock Garden - Visitor Centre at the Royal Botanical Garden

Project description
The David Braley and Nancy Gordon Rock Garden underwent a three-year transformation project. The new garden respects the heritage, look and feel of this iconic space while celebrating the beginning of a new era. Features include a new Visitor Centre, restoration of the heritage Garden House, the Daglish Family Foundation Courtyard with elegant stone walls, rebuilt water features that meander throughout the garden landscape, and a rejuvenated planting plan. The project required an integrated approach to architecture and landscape architecture, including form, materiality and detailing of all building and site work elements. As a key element of the transformation, the new Visitor Centre re-establishes the Rock Garden as the gateway to the cities of Hamilton and Burlington, giving it a new entrance and much stronger presence on York Boulevard. The Visitor Centre’s entry façade is a long, curved stone wall, and visitors enter over a water feature and under the overhang of the leaf-shaped roof into the Centre.

Jury comments
The project is pleasant and unique, incorporating a balanced approach to the street while ensuring that views into the Gardens are obscured until the user is within the visitor’s centre itself. The structure aspires to integrate itself with the garden, through extensive use of glass and wood. The overall design serves to establish a strong connection to the grounds without overshadowing the site’s main attraction: The Rock Garden itself. While the Garden’s street facade is somewhat harsh due to a lengthy stone wall, the structure is intended to screen the vistas of the Gardens. The design effectively balances these two guiding principles.

Project description
The Waterdown Library and Civic Complex design process began with an acknowledgement of a dramatic site upon the Niagara escarpment. The design takes advantage of the topography, using elevation changes to provide expression and access to the different programmatic elements within the building. The design provides for a single story, split level building with the library as principle tenant. The library component hovers one story above municipal program components, connected via a series of gently sloping internal walkways. The topography is extended into the library, organized as a series of four terraces. A large library reading atrium is situated at the high elevation providing striking views of the escarpment, and projecting the life and vitality of this exciting public program to the street, the city and the lake beyond.

Jury comments
An elegant civic amenity that makes an important contribution to the public realm in Waterdown. The architecture is well-scaled, beautifully detailed impressively practical and well executed. The landscaping, in turn, is elegant and well-integrated with the architecture. Finally, the library successfully addresses the busy arterial on which it is located, thereby drawing attention to an important community asset. The jury notes the opportunity for the landscaping in front and the parking lot behind to allow for more community and spill-out functions.

Project description
Previously dominated by soccer fields and baseball diamonds, The Waterdown Rotary Memorial Park Skate Loop project has refocused the park on a casual, informal use that affords families the opportunity to spend time outdoors year round.

In order to maximize the size and quality of the skating surface, budgetary constraints led to a cost effective solution to the design of the amenity building, which included the reuse of an existing washroom building. The new building asymmetrically wraps the existing washrooms, efficiently creating interior space and sustainably adapting the existing building’s program. The result is a contemporary building that forms part of the new park identity. The large canopy is located to reduce the amount of sun that enters the building in the summer while allowing the sun to help warm the interior during the winter months. Finally, the skate path was situated to avoid requiring any mature trees to be removed for the project.

Jury comments
The jury decided to confer an Award of Merit on this modest project as an example of how a creative and sustainable re-use of a utilitarian parks building can contribute greatly to an under-utilized open space. It provides a case study in how municipalities can reinvest in public spaces without incurring huge capital expense. The accompanying rinkpath will become a winter destination, and the paired projects will deliver significant civic impact.

Award of Excellence for Visions & Master Plans: Pier 7 & 8

Project description
Pier 7 + 8 are former industrial lands that represent Hamilton’s most significant opportunity to transform their waterfront into a vibrant new community. The recommended development master plan evolved through a collaborative 16 month community consultation process of workshops and open houses. Through that process, it was determined that future development will include a mix of residential, commercial, community spaces and a well-connected public realm of parks, open spaces and streetscapes incorporating state-of-the-art innovation and sustainability standards in architecture and engineering design.

Recipients: Brook McIlroy, City of Hamilton

The redevelopment will improve connectivity between the North End neighbourhood and the waterfront, as well as provide an opportunity for the City of Hamilton to secure new public spaces along the West Harbour and to expand the existing Pier 8 events and activities. This Plan represents the aspirations of the public and the City to make a world class waterfront community on the Hamilton Harbour. Recognition of this commitment will showcase their efforts to-date and will reinforce the vision for Pier 7 + 8 as the project moves into implementation.

Jury comments
The Pier 7 and 8 plan has great potential to reinvigorate Hamilton’s waterfront. The master plan reflects an ambitious long-term vision and provides a robust structure for the ensuing build-out of a new community where attention to public realm will be as important as attention to the area’s built form. The plan aligns with other successful waterfront revitalization efforts, yet asserts an approach to waterfront revitalization that is unique to Hamilton. The jury was impressed by the clarity of the public realm framework, with a priority on connectivity between the city and the water, as well as the thoughtful programming of diverse open spaces to vitalize public life in this emerging district.

Award of Merit for Visions & Master Plans: Pipeline Trail Master Plan

Project description
The Pipeline Trail Master Plan adaptively reuses municipal infrastructure into an urban trail network linking parks, schools, residences, transit, businesses and neighbourhoods. It is a community-focused project that provides the framework for re-development and expansion of the trail system while maintaining its function as a pipeline corridor. The pipeline corridor dates back to the 1850’s, and connects the City’s oldest water pumping station located on Woodward Avenue (now the Museum of Steam and Technology) to the former Barton Reservoir situated on the Escarpment at Ottawa Street.

The Master Plan envisions an increase in active transportation across the lower City via this multi-use trail. The trail is intended to be adaptable, flexible and sustainable. First and foremost, the underground pipelines must be protected and remain accessible for ongoing maintenance. Design considerations include: barrier-free accessibility, low-maintenance materials, variety of plantings and programmable spaces for community use.

Jury comments
The project demonstrates impressive community engagement at a grassroots level that improves the public realm. While the urban design is humble, the initiative speaks to the community’s determination to mobilize, engage and transform an under-used open space into a shared asset that connects neighbourhoods.

Project description
Mohawk College began this project with the vision of creating a place that celebrates First Nations, Metis and Inuit culture within the everyday experience of the Mohawk College campus and that honours 15,000 years of Indigenous history on this territory. Developed through an inclusive and iterative community consultation process between Brook McIlroy; Mohawk College; Aboriginal students of the College; and Elders and members of the Six Nations First Nation and Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation Communities, the design response creates a first-of-its-kind outdoor space with deep layers of meaning woven into the fabric of each of its unique elements. Set in the College’s main courtyard, the HOOP Dance Aboriginal Gathering Place is comprised of five elements: the HOOP Dance Gathering Place - an open-air pavilion, a fire circle, a water garden, a traditional garden and a ‘seven sisters’ garden. The pavilion is inspired by Aboriginal concepts of inclusiveness, time as measured by the sun and moon, the Medicine Wheel and the creation story. The gardens and pavilion welcome people of all backgrounds, beliefs and ages into an inclusive circle – a place for teaching, music, story-telling, ceremony, relaxation and contemplation.

Jury comments
This project clearly stood out among the submissions -- a successful and beautifully executed effort in creating an inviting and meaningful space for the college and surrounding community. From an urban design perspective, the structure is inclusive, welcoming visitors to reflect on the space and Indigenous history. There is strong integration between the physical structure and the surrounding landscaping, and its position, in the very heart of the campus, symbolizes the potential for reconciliation, Indigenous history education and dialogue.

Award of Merit for Landscapes, Public Spaces & Green Infrastructure: L.R. Wilson Hall for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences

Project description
L.R. Wilson Hall acts as a landmark building for the eastern gateway to McMaster University. The design goal was to ensure that the landscapes serve the faculty’s functions, as well as fit within the broader campus circulation patterns. The site is framed to the east by a remnant woodlot that was mandated to remain. The perimeter streetscape design applies the City of Hamilton’s urban braille standards. The landscape programme consists of a plaza and spill-out area for the auditorium, an aboriginal studies terrace including a medicinal wheel garden, a courtyard bringing nature and sunlight to the interior of the building, and extensive green roof designed with graphic expression. Coordinated efforts with the project arborist ensured the maintenance of as many existing trees within the woodlot as possible: a woodlot that would serve as borrowed scenery and backdrop to the aboriginal studies terrace. All of the planting on the ground plane is irrigated via greywater from a cistern that collects roofwater.

Jury comments
The Award of Merit recognizes this project for its efforts to carve out meaningful common spaces within the context of a large institutional university building. These interior spaces and abundant glazing allow natural light to come deep into the centre of the building, and also acknowledge Indigenous tradition, such as smudging ceremonies. The project succeeds in activating several
spaces of varying sizes and functions, while achieving a common design vernacular.

Award of Excellence for Civic Achievement: McQuesten Urban Farm

Project description
McQuesten Urban Farm is Hamilton’s first urban farm and public space of its kind, in the heart of Hamilton’s east end. The space was designed with a great deal of insight provided by the community and those that actively use the space today. The urban farm provides an inclusive and welcoming space for the McQuesten neighbourhood. Fresh produce is available to residents for greater food security, opportunities for social enterprise, volunteer and skill-building and environmental and food education. These are just some of the benefits the farm has provided to its neighbours.

The McQuesten Urban Farm is a Neighbourhood Action Strategy partnership between the McQuesten Community Planning Team, City of Hamilton and the Social Planning and Research Council. Now producing over 50 000 pounds of fresh produce for the community annually, the McQuesten Planning Committee continues to work toward a sustainable social enterprise, with the addition of greenhouses and year-round food production.

Location: 400 Melvin Avenue, HamiltonRecipients: McQuesten Community Planning Team, Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, City of Hamilton, Social Planning and Research Council

Jury comments
The first phase of this urban farm, including the natural playground, provides an inspiring example of how private/non-profit organizations can work with communities to create new educational programming and amenities in public spaces. The jury agreed that it will be exciting to watch this project evolve and grow through subsequent phases.

Chief Planner Award for Outstanding Contribution to the City of Hamilton Public Building: David Braley Health Sciences Centre

Project description
The David Braley Health Sciences Centre has been positioned and composed to reinforce the surrounding civic precinct and enliven this downtown streetscape. It forms a new western interface with Commonwealth Plaza, a layered edge of paving and stone planter beds and a new entry plaza. The building massing steps back from Main Street in a series of terraces that overlook city hall and the escarpment to the south. It features a weathered copper clad multipurpose room that extends out over the side walk echoing the massing of the council chamber across the street. The building’s public realm extends up through the building via a cascading series of public spaces that leads the visitor to the top of the building, providing dramatic views along the way. Common throughout the building is the usage of stone, wood and planting features that links these elevated spaces back to the original ground plane entry and connects to the idea of Hamilton as a city situated between the lake and the escarpment, surrounded by nature.

Jury comments
The building is a wonderful example of civic architecture, featuring strong and deliberate attempts to create a seamless connection between the street, ground floor foyer areas and more internal spaces, such as lecture theatres with generous windows that provide compelling views of Hamilton’s downtown civic complex. While the Jury felt the building could better address the adjacent Art Gallery Open Space, the Centre’s configuration was determined through the anticipation of a Gallery expansion that would more seamlessly integrate the two prominent civic buildings into the dynamic downtown streetscape.